This is an example of why the internet is so fabulous--and so frustrating. I just discovered a fascinating blog, Muslim Hedonist. Check out her post on discussing female genital mutilation with her daughters--whoa. I was intrigued too by her discussion of escaping polygamy. Here's a voice from a population that too often is voiceless, or at least doesn't get heard in the mainstream media or the blogosphere. What's especially fascinating is that while Muslim Hedonist is clear about her opposition to FGM, she doesn't treat FGM as a problem isolated to Islam. Instead she connects FGM and her difficulty talking about FGM with her daughters to the lack of language for female sexuality common to Islamic and Western cultures. She is startled that her pre-teen daughter doesn't know what a clitoris is. Hence the title of the post, "The Body Part That Had No Name."
And the whole conversation with her daughters got started by an episode of "America's Next Top Model," which apparently included a "circumcised" model from Somalia. Clash of civilizations, my tuckus. (But jeez, I'm out of touch. Talking about FGM on America's Top Model?!)
What's frustrating is how little I have yet figured out about who she is and what her story is. It's that infernal blog informality and lack of an editor. Anyway, I'm looking forward to digging around some more on her site and piecing it together.
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